


I Can't Take My Eyes Off You

by AcesOfSpade



Series: Ace's Random One-Shot Collection [33]
Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: (only one of them), Alternate Universe - High School, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Singing, Talent Shows, Teenage Dorks, Todd even plays guitar, and Silas is a fuckin sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 04:51:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13403835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcesOfSpade/pseuds/AcesOfSpade
Summary: Todd Brotzman is one of many weirdos that form a squad. These weirdos have managed to survive until their senior year. And then the school's annual coffee house happens, and Todd does A Thing.Also Silas has a beautiful singing voice.





	I Can't Take My Eyes Off You

**Author's Note:**

> So, um, I don't know? I really don't. I just wanted some dorky high school shit that had Pilas and Brotzly. And this is what I came up with. Enjoy?

Their squad was a mixed bag of high school archetypes. There was Todd, the punk with too many feelings; Dirk, the eccentric one that hid his feelings; Farah, the tough but skittish one; Silas, the musical theatre kid nobody really paid attention to; and Panto, the best fencer at the school. Sometimes they were joined by Todd’s freshman sister Amanda, but Amanda’s schedule was a lot different than the seniors, so it was a rare occurance.

 

Todd and Silas had something in common, much to most people’s surprise: they were skilled musicians. Todd played the guitar and sang (sometimes), and Silas had the most amazing voice to accompany his killer piano skills. This shared interest sometimes led their squad to force them into school talent shows, as much as they protested. That was how they got here, actually.

 

Every October, the school held a coffee house night where students could perform in front of a usually small audience in a laid-back setting, complete with coffee (obviously) and homemade cookies. Silas had done the show the year before, earning quite the praise for his rendition of an old Disney princess song that was almost certainly directed at Panto. The two were sickeningly adorable together, and the rest of the squad were always teasing them about it in good fun.

 

Silas was closer to the top of the lineup, but he had time to sit in the drama room’s pit with everyone else, leaning on Panto’s side with one of Panto’s arms around his waist. A few of the older adults in the chairs gave them sour looks, but neither paid attention.

 

After a few acts, Silas was collected by one of the students helping to run the show, meaning it was almost his turn. The squad sat in anticipation of his performance, though none more excited than Panto. He wore a dopey grin as Silas was introduced, meeting his boyfriend’s eyes for a brief moment before he sat at the piano that was set up on the stage.

 

“ _Our love is unconditional, we knew it from the start. I can see it in your eyes, you can feel it in my heart. From here on after, let’s stay the way we are now and share all the love and laughter that a lifetime will allow,_ ” Silas sang, his voice deep but soft. If his singing voice were to be compared to anyone else’s, the closest would be Johnny Cash with a little less gloom.

 

“ _I cross my heart and promise to give all I’ve got to give to make all your dreams come true. In all the world, you’ll never find a love as true as mine,_ ” he continued, Panto’s usual lovestruck expression more sickening than ever.

 

“ _You will always be the miracle that makes my life complete, and as long as there’s a breath in me I’ll make yours just as sweet._ ” Someone let out a low whistle, though it didn’t seem to faze Silas. Hell, nothing fazed Silas when he was performing.

 

“ _As we look into the future, it’s as far as we can see. So let’s make each tomorrow the best that it can be._ _I cross my heart and promise to give all I’ve got to give to make all your dreams come true. In all the world, you’ll never find a love as true as mine._ _And if along the way we find a day it starts to storm, you’ve got the promise of my love to keep you warm._ _”_ Whoever was working the lights by that point had dimmed most of the stage lights, leaving just a warm spotlight shining on Silas and the piano. It fit the mood of the song pretty well.

 

“ _In all the world, you’ll never find a love as true as mine,_ ” he trailed off, hands still dancing over the piano keys as he played the outro. “ _A love as true as mine_ ,” he finished as he played the last bar, taking a small breath once he was done. He stood from the piano bench, turning to the audience with a smile as the room filled with applause and a few whistles. Once it died down, Silas made his way back to his friends, reclaiming his spot practically in his boyfriend’s lap.

 

Panto chuckled softly, not saying anything immediately. He instead chose to press his forehead against Silas’, the pure love radiating from his grey eyes gladly returned by Silas’ deep brown, a smile spreading across both teen’s faces.

 

“Have I ever told you how big of a dork you are?” Panto teased, rolling his eyes.

 

“It’s come up a few times,” Silas chuckled, deciding to just pull himself fully into Panto’s lap and lean back against his chest to watch the rest of the students.

 

When it came time for Todd’s act, Amanda let out a whistle, mostly to embarrass him. Todd discreetly flipped her off, grabbing his guitar from the spot he’d left it back stage and taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. Was he really going to do this? Yes, yes he was.

 

Todd sat on the stool that had been put out, taking a moment to fiddle with his guitar and slide his bright yellow pick from the strings to begin playing.

 

_“_ _You're just too good to be true, I can't take my eyes off you. You'd be like heaven to touch; I wanna hold you so much. At long last love has arrived_ _a_ _nd I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true,_ _c_ _an't take my eyes off you_ ,” Todd began, voice somewhat gruff and scratchy. Whether it was always like that or caused by the cigarette Todd had smoked before coming inside was unknown to Dirk, but he did know it was a rather beautiful sound. He’d never heard Todd sing before, only ever allowed to listen to him play guitar.

 

“ _Pardon the way that I stare,_ _t_ _here's nothing else to compare;_ _t_ _he sight of you leaves me weak. There are no words left to speak,_ _b_ _ut if you feel like I feel,_ _p_ _lease let me know that is real. You're just too good to be true. I can't take my eyes off you_ ,” he continued, eyes closed as he concentrated on the playing instead of where he was. Dirk, being the person he was, noticed the tension in Todd’s shoulders. It wasn’t stage fright, rather… uncertainty of some type. Combined with the underlying hint of importance in his voice, Dirk came to the conclusion that he was singing _to_ someone. But who?

 

“ _I need you baby,_ _a_ _nd if it's quite all right, I need you baby,_ _a_ _nd if its quite alright, I need you baby_ _t_ _o warm the lonely nights. I love you baby,_ _t_ _rust in me when I say its okay. Oh pretty baby,_ _d_ _on't bring me down I pray. Oh pretty baby,_ _n_ _ow that I've found you stay_ _a_ _nd let me love you, baby. Let me love you_. _”_ Almost everyone in the audience was wide-eyed as Todd sang, hopefully in awe. Dirk was definitely wide-eyed in awe, but there was something else he was feeling too, a tight heat coiling in his chest he couldn’t name at the moment. Apparently it was visible in his expression, because Amanda snickered behind her hand and pointed him out to Farah, who just smiled slightly and rolled her eyes.

 

_“_ _You're just too good to be true, I can't take my eyes off you. You'd be like heaven to touch; I wanna hold you so much. At long last love has arrived_ _a_ _nd I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true,_ _c_ _an't take my eyes off you_.” The tension in Todd’s shoulders was slowly melting away, his hands less firm as he played. He was letting himself get lost in the song, Dirk was sure.

 

“ _I need you baby,_ _a_ _nd if it's quite all right, I need you baby,_ _a_ _nd if its quite alright, I need you baby_ _t_ _o warm the lonely nights. I love you baby,_ _t_ _rust in me when I say its okay. Oh pretty baby,_ _d_ _on't bring me down I pray. Oh pretty baby,_ _n_ _ow that I've found you stay_ _a_ _nd let me love you, baby. Let me love you_.” As Todd’s voice trailed off, he slowly opened his eyes as he played the last few chords, standing when he was done and looking rather… meek, as people applauded him. Amanda whistled, again, making Todd roll his eyes as he made his way back to his friends.

 

Once he was sitting back on the edge of the pit, Amanda flashed him a knowing grin and a thumbs-up. “You did great, dude,” she assured him.

 

Todd wasn’t really paying attention to Amanda’s words, far too fixated on the back of Dirk’s head. A light flush was creeping up his neck, barely visible above the collar of his shirt at the moment.

 

Dirk, bless his oblivious heart, hadn’t snapped out of his thoughts quite yet. He finally pulled himself out, shaking his head slightly and turning to Todd with a wide, brilliant grin.

 

“You have a brilliant singing voice,” Dirk told him sincerely, not noticing the blush inching further up Todd’s neck. After a moment, he frowned briefly before speaking again, fighting the frown off his face. “You looked scared,” he muttered, fiddling with the zipper of his trademark bright yellow leather jacket. “Not scared of being in front of people though. Scared of one person in the audience, if I were to guess.”

 

That brought Todd’s blush up to his jaw, making itself known to Dirk. “Uh…” he mumbled, looking just over Dirk’s shoulder at nothing in particular.

 

Dirk realized he probably hit a nerve with Todd, his face mirroring that. “Oh, um, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to!” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like tha-” he rambled, only to be cut off by Todd’s fist grabbing the front of his shirt as he kissed Dirk rather uncertainly.

 

At first startled, Dirk managed to semi-decently return the kiss, balancing on his shins to even out the height difference between him in the pit and Todd on the raised edge. His hands hang lamely at his sides, as he had no idea what to do with them. Neither noticed Amanda snapping a picture of the two of them, finally breaking apart when said girl cleared her throat teasingly. Todd’s hand didn’t let go of Dirk’s shirt though, and they stayed in each other’s personal bubbles.

 

“Fucking idiots,” Amanda shook her head with a fond grin. “I’ve only been at this school for a month and a half, yet people keep coming up to me and asking if Todd Brotzman is my brother, followed by ‘is he dating that weird British guy?’.”

 

Todd’s blush had reached his face by that point, and it darkened considerably. Dirk blushed as well, making a soft squeaking noise that Todd thought was absolutely adorable.

 

“I can confirm that,” Farah hummed with a mischievous smirk. “The last three years have been littered with people constantly asking me if the two of you are dating. Granted, freshman year also included questions about those two idiots, but my point still stands,” she went on, motioning to Panto and Silas at the mention of them. The couple literally just shrugged, as if to say ‘whatever’.

 

“You’re both assholes,” Todd muttered, though there was no bitterness to his words. He turned to Dirk to give him a chance to say something, because he had sort of cut him off mid-sentence.

 

“That… that just happened,” Dirk muttered with wide eyes. “That really happened. You just kissed me. While I was asking about… oh. _Oh,_ ” he rambled, eyes widening further when he put the pieces together. “The song...” he trailed off, not sure he wanted to say it out loud. “You were singing about me, weren’t you?” he asked, forcing himself to say it.

 

“Yeah,” Todd nodded softly, biting his lip nervously. “I really hope I didn’t upset you somehow,” he added, almost worriedly.

 

Dirk shook his head quickly. “No, not at all,” he promised him. “I’m just having trouble processing the fact that it happened. That it was _you_ that did it. Because I really wanted you to at some point. I was too nervous to kiss you first, I thought I might mess up what we have, our friendship.” He was babbling, almost perplexed with each new statement. Todd couldn’t help but chuckle softly, a tiny smile on his face that made his eyes wrinkle at the corners in a way Dirk had seen maybe once since he met Todd.

 

“You’re rambling,” Todd said lightly. “Not that I mind the rambling, but I’d really like to do that again and I can’t if you’re talking.” The way he said it was entirely casual, as if he were asking about a homework question in history. Dirk could only nod, leaning forward to meet Todd halfway. This kiss was less awkward and hesitant, both boys more confident this time.

 

That kiss was broken by Amanda lightly punching their shoulders. “Show’s over. You two can make out in the backseat of the car on the way home, just be quiet.”

 

Dirk and Todd just blushed darker, getting up. Todd shuffled off to grab his guitar, returning a minute later with said instrument. He absently reached for Dirk’s hand as the group headed out, lacing their fingers together.

**Author's Note:**

> Silas' song is 'I Cross My Heart' by George Strait
> 
> Todd's song is 'I Can't Take My Eyes Off You' by Muse.


End file.
